


The Other Interns at SI

by concreteflour



Series: Guess What?  Parker IS an Intern. [6]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: How it really works, Interns & Internships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 06:43:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16571612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/concreteflour/pseuds/concreteflour
Summary: There has been widespread speculation on the Intern program at SI.  Here is how it really works!





	The Other Interns at SI

**Author's Note:**

> This one can stand alone, but it is similar in focus to the other stories in this group. You might enjoy those. At least I hope you do. Either way, please leave a comment, it's how I survive!

Six bright, young, smiling faces sat in the New Employee Orientation at Stark Industries. The two day training got them somewhat familiar with company policy and what was expected of them. A non-intern would have at least a week of training, but interns were expected to figure a lot out on their own. These were all very good students who were getting advanced credit for their work from their College or University for working at SI. They all agreed to spend a minimum of six months, (most were a year), studying in their respective fields at a Fortune 50 (top 10% of the Fortune 500) company.

To that end, each was given a qualification card. It had a list of things that must be signed off before their internship was completed. It varied somewhat depending on what specialty they were following, but they were all similar. Contrary to popular belief, the internships did not just happen in science and engineering. A dozen other areas of the company were commonly represented. Areas most people didn’t associate SI with: Accounting, Shipping, Purchasing, Finance, Marketing, Production, Culinary Arts, and even Environmental Engineering, (that’s the janitorial staff).

Pepper Potts had recognized early that all the areas of SI needed the best young minds if they were to flourish. New ideas and new ways to do things moved the company forward faster. Plus, the internships produced more well-rounded and teamwork oriented employees. 

To that goal, several of the checkoffs included cooperative efforts with other areas. For example, an accountant had to assist on at least one engineering project, and the engineers had to help the purchasing department on a project. This allowed each trainee to understand the processes the other departments went through and helped keep down the bad feelings when shipments were slow, costs were high, or any other problem that fostered at most companies.

This led to SI having some of the highest employee morale for any large company. This in turn, increased productivity. Which also lowered employee turnover. Which increased product development rates and kept the new ideas flowing. Win and Win.

Department Heads acted as mentors, but the burden of getting the qual card signed fell upon the intern. Other check-offs on the qual card included scavenger hunts to find specific areas in the large building, mandatory trainings they would have to find and review-on which could be on any style of medium, from an interactive session with FRIDAY to reading a papyrus roll, and they had to lead a presentation about their area of expertise to other groups. 

There was one checkoff that was on everyone’s card. It had the least explanation of all. It could be signed off by only a Department Head, Pepper Potts or Tony Stark. It also said that no mention of any work was to be acknowledged to anyone outside the above list. It simply said: Collaborate with Peter.

Who was Peter? The interns came from several different areas, why would one person have expertise in all their areas? None of the trainers would answer their question on the “Peter” topic, they just smiled. 

Everyone knew Tony Stark. He was the genius behind SI. Everyone knew Pepper Potts, she was the driving force behind the reorganization of SI and helped shape its continuing focus on newer technologies. Most of the Department heads were well known in their respective fields, with Nobel Prizes, Lasker Awards, Copley Medals, among other prestigious awards. With a great budget and great environment, everyone wanted to work at SI. The question became even more curious, who was this one-named person that required our attention. Even the other interns wouldn’t say a word, and just laughed when it came up. Some snippets of overheard conversation surrounded the more experienced interns about whether they had gotten their Parker signed off – (which definitely sounded better than the other way).

The first sighting of Peter was when a blur went through the physics lab. A smaller, obviously younger guy, ran in, dropped off an armload of paper to Dr. Westmore, and left with another stack of paper. The intern had overheard Dr. Westmore say, “Thank you, Peter.” In the short time he was there, four different employees peppered him with questions. As far as the intern here presently could see, he answered everything, which was confusing since it was PhD students asking advanced questions for someone obviously younger. 

When this intern relayed the sighting to the others he started with, an intern in marketing said he had seen a similar young guy come in with papers for the Department Head, right in the middle of a meeting. It didn’t look like the kid could be over fourteen or fifteen, but the DH stopped and conferred with him like an old friend, as they chatted back and forth. The other strange thing was that after he left, the DH turned to our other intern and asked him how his and Peter’s project was coming. The older intern smiled and said he was all signed off.

The next several weeks brought about a ton of work, and very little time to socialize. Groups of interns did tend to stick together, out of comradery, and they often met for lunch or dinner in one of the cafeterias. It was quite common for the talk to start with everyone’s project’s and circle always back to the secretive “Peter.” By now, everyone had seen him several times, and they all noted his boundless energy, and knowledge of everything that was going on. He knew deliver times for shipments, when financial reports were due, and seemingly, every science project being developed at SI. They all agreed he couldn’t be over sixteen, so being an Intern was out. The prevailing guess was that he was Stark’s son, but that had been laughed down by several older interns when the question was brought up. “You’ll see, when you get to work with him,” was all they would say.

The first intern to have the chance to work with Peter was in Accounting. He had to prepare an interactive report for the Board of Directors. It was the interactive part that had him stymied. So, his DH set-up some time with Peter to help with the technical issues. The next day, the same young guy bounced, almost literally, into the conference room to help the intern. He managed to access FRIDAY and started a program that rapidly changed the old-fashioned PowerPoint slides into something much more dramatic. Along the way he fired off question after question about FIFO (First In First Out), Capital Loss Carryover, and other terms the MBA candidate couldn’t even believe a sixteen year-old would know. In the process, and with the intern’s permission, he made several changes to the layout of the presentation. Friday was able to access all pertinent information and could supply back-up answers for any questions. Two hours after they started, the intern left there with a completely interactive presentation, and a headache like he had just gone through a verbal exam.

The next day, after getting his Parker signed off, all he said to the other interns was, “You’ll see, when you get to work with him.” And then he smiled.

One by one, they all got their Parker qual cards signed. They all smiled and said, “You’ll see, when you get to work with him,” to the newer groups of interns. They all realized how smart the young man was, how he remembered everyone’s name, and knew every project they were working on. He was, in many ways, completely opposite of Tony Stark, who was aloof and often called people by the wrong name. It was impossible not to like the young man, because he had so much energy, treated everyone so nice, and was helpful to everyone. They all thought that he had been there to help them, because of his knowledge. In that one idea, they were all wrong.

Pepper and Tony sat alone on the balcony of the Penthouse. A cool summer evening breeze blew across the terrace. Dinner was done, and Pepper was relaxing with a glass of wine, Tony had his ever-present coffee, (which cost slightly more than the imported wine.)

“MIT called again today, wondering when we can start sending Peter up to classes there,” Tony said.

Pepper scoffed, “What’s the rush, he’s getting more training here, than he ever will in a school.”

“He should start going soon, or he’ll be to advanced to get anything out of the school.”

“But he’s so important around here!” Pepper said.

“You only say that because you’re grooming him to be the next CEO. I can see what you’re doing.” Tony said with a laugh.

“And can you think of anyone better to run your company when we retire?” Pepper asked.

Tony thought for a second and then reached out to clink his coffee cup to Pepper’s wine glass, “No, Hon, I can’t think of anyone else I would want.”


End file.
